PAPE Fund 3, a South African private equity fund, has made a fresh investment in Entersekt, a provider of identity and customer authentication software. The agreement was signed last month and follows a December investment by Accel-KKR of Silicon Valley.

“We are thrilled to welcome PAPE on board,” says Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt. “The fund has a very strong footprint in our home market of South Africa, and their expertise will bring a valuable perspective alongside our existing shareholders. PAPE’s investment helps us further bolster operational support as we scale Entersekt in our strategic focus regions. We look forward to achieving great success together.”

Following the funding, PAPE joins Entersekt’s shareholder base, which also includes Nedbank Private Equity, Rand Merchant Investment Holdings, and Accel-KKR, a private equity firm with a track record of successful investments in mid-market software and technology-enabled services businesses around the world, according to a statement.

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According to Entersekt, the funding will be utilized to fuel the company’s global expansion and support recent accomplishments in countries such as the United States and Latin America.

Why The Investor Invested

“Entersekt is a global market leader in the digital security landscape with scalable IT infrastructure and architecture,” says Dr Zuko Kubukeli,who is a principal at PAPE Fund Managers, alongside Ikageng Moatshe. 

“At PAPE, we back local entrepreneurs with a global competitive-edge and provide strategic value-add and expansion capital. With the Entersekt team and shareholding structure, we believe we are poised for stellar growth.”

PAPE Fund 3 is managed by PAPE Fund Managers, a level one BBBEE financial services provider registered fund manager with approximately R1 billion in investor commitments.

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PAPE Fund 3’s institutional investors include several South African pension funds and asset managers, a Dutch development bank, and a group of family offices.

A Look At What Entersekt

In 2010, Entersekt was established in Stellenbosch. According to the corporation, their software secures over one billion financial transactions per month and protects millions of financial services consumers worldwide.

Entersekt identity Entersekt identity

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

Accel-KKR, a technology-focused private equity firm located in the United States, has made a “substantial” investment in Entersekt, a major player in the device entity and authentication space situated in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The deal’s value has not been published, nor has the percentage share that Accel-KKR has purchased in Entersekt, which is privately held.

“The company will use the investment to help scale the business to reach more organisations across more regions with its cloud-first solutions, as the industry is experiencing a wave of innovation in areas like omnichannel and password-less authentication, 3-D Secure and open banking,” a statement said.

Rand Merchant Investment (RMI) Holdings has led two prior financing rounds for Entersekt and is a substantial investor in the company through AlphaCode, RMI’s fintech incubator.

“Entersekt is known for its deep vertical expertise and successful track record in the financial services industry. The company scores high marks from customers, especially for its innovative technology that completely reimagines user experiences. As a partner, Accel-KKR is committed to helping the Entersekt team accelerate growth and continually deliver innovation in their category,” Joe Porten, principal at Accel-KKR said.

Entersekt device authentication Entersekt device authentication

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer